K1 Fiance visa, or direct consular filing? CONFUSED!

[JayLee 0]

I have a question regarding which is the correct visa application process for our circumstances.

Here are the details of our situation at present.

• My fiance is American. I am British.
• We currently live in South Korea. We have lived here since March 2016.
• We are legal residents in Korea i.e. we have a government issued ID card and visas
• We recently got engaged.
• Our contract finishes in approximately 6 months (March 2017).
• When we leave Korea, we intend to live in the US permanently.

We intended to apply for a K1 fiance visa via USCIS; however, as we both live outside of the US this proved difficult. We seem to find hurdles at every turn! We have issues over which addresses to put on the I-129f form, we don't know what employment details to put on the I-134, as well as which addresses to put on the G325A etc etc. We were looking on this site for answers when we saw the Direct Consular Filing section.

So my question is this... which visa application process is the most appropriate?

Should we apply for the K1 as we had intended, or is it possible to apply for a visa using the I-130 via direct consular filing at Seoul Embassy?

If it's possible to file an I-130 application in Seoul, can we do so as an engaged couple intending to marry upon entry to the US, or do we have to marry here in Korea first? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you so much!

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

You can file the K1; you'd send your package from South Korea to the US lockbox, and you can use your SK address.

DCF only works for married couples, ie the CR-1 spousal visa, so you'd need to get married first. It has major advantages though, in that it is usually very fast, cheaper than the K1, and you as the foreigner could work in the USA right away, and travel if there is an emergency back home or something.

The affadavit of support will be an issue whether you file K1 or CR-1. You can put your current salary on the forms, but it will not count, because the income must be current and ongoing at the time you immigrate; so unless you have a lot of assets (savings, a second home, 401k etc), you will need a co-sponsor; a US based person to stand guarantoor for you. Also, your US citizen partner needs to file taxes even when living abroad, so if he has not, be sure to backfile.

Your timeline is tight for both DCF or K1, so do decide soon.

[Unshakable Faith 493]

Let me start by stating the details of our situation at present:

• My fiancé is American. I am British. We both hold a US and UK passport respectively.
• We met in Korea in 2012.
• From 2012-2014, we lived and worked in Korea.
• In 2014-2015, we moved to Australia for one year on a working holiday visa. We spent 6 months living and working in Perth, and the remaining six months living and working in the Pilbara. We spent no longer than 6 months at each place of residence.
• In 2015, we returned to the US for a total of 5 months while we applied for work back to Korea. During that time, we lived at my fiancés parents house.
• I spent one month in Boston, returned to England for 2 months (living with my parents) and then returned to Boston for two more months. This was on a tourist visa.
• We both currently live and work in South Korea. We have lived here since March 2016. Our work contract finishes in approximately 6 months (March 2017).
• We are legal residents in Korea i.e. we have a government issued ID card and work visas.
• We recently got engaged.
• We intend to move back to the US, get married and live in the US permanently. Not necessarily in that order.
• When we return to the US, my fiancé will begin working for his parents family business.

In terms of the visa process, we are unsure which course of action is the best one for us (the I-130 or the K1) as we have questions about both. We have tried to contact USCIS on numerous occasions (the automated service is infuriating!), we've looked online, we're looking into a visa agent. We need help! Any advice is greatly appreciated!

• I-130 We know that we can apply for this in Korea, and that we would need to get married here first. If we follow this route:

3]o What are the processing times? Is it quicker than the K1? Can we get it in 6 months while we're both still in Korea?

3]o Is there any paperwork I need to file when I enter the US?

3]o Can I work right away, or do I need to file paperwork so that I have work rights?

3]o Do I still need to apply for the AOS?

3]o What type of Green Card will I have? The 2 year one, or the 10 year one?

3]o Do I need to file paperwork for a SS card?

3]o Can I leave the country to go on a honeymoon?

• K1 Fiancé Visa As we both live outside the US. We have some issues regarding the application forms:

3]o I-129f K1 Fiancé Visa - Should we put our permanent residence (i.e. our parents residence in our home countries) or our address here in Korea?

3]o G325a Biographical Information - We need to list places lived overseas. Does this include ALL addresses we lived at in Australia, or just ones for 6 months or more?

3]o I-134 Affidavit of Support - We are currently employed overseas. What employment details should we write?

3]If we omit our current Korean address from the I-129f, is it still possible to list a Korean employer?

3]We only have cash assets (savings) and no prospect of work from our current employer when we return to the U.S. Should my fiancé list his father as his employer/sponsor since he will be working for him upon our return?

3]

3]Any advice is greatly appreciated!

3]

I can answer the K1 questions. I'll leave the others to someone more experienced in that arena.

I believe the form lists a spot for your physical address and your mailing address? I would go with your physical address because it is where you currently live. Don't over think these forms, give exactly what it's asking.

If the form says "all addresses lived at for 6+ months" then you can omit the addresses that you lived less than 6 six months. If it does not provide that loophole, submit all addresses for the requested time period.

List all the employment details it's asking for. Again, I think you're overthinking the simplicity of these forms. Take a deep breath .

Don't omit your current address.

There is no space to write down prospective employers and they do not account for anything because circumstances could change on any given day. I believe it's 3x the amount of the poverty level that you need in liquid assets if you're just using assets. Sounds like you will need a co-sponsor that makes over the poverty limit for their household size +1 (your fiance). It can be any US Citizen or LPR.

It also sounds like you have a very straight forward case. There's no need for a visa agent unless you just really want to pay the extra money. There are guides here to help you through each step of the process as well as form examples. Sometimes visa agents make this process longer because they forget things or are not completely knowledgeable of USCIS processes.

Edited August 16, 2016 by FN&KO

[Lainie B 465]

Moving to "What visa do I need?" forum

[Lainie B 465]

Have a look at this "What visa do I need?" guide:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

Ignore the part about the K-3 visa. You are looking at the K-1 visa versus the CR-1 visa.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

I am assuming you are in South Korea? If so, I'd suggest marrying now and filing for the CR-1 spousal visa via DCF )ie directly with the embassy). This is the fastest way, and a marriage visa means you can work and travel right away, unlike with the K1- no AOS, no paperwork when you enter the USA.

[Bryonym 33]

Hi JayLee,

We are actually in a very similar situation to you. We're currently living in South Korea and our NOA2 is on it's way now. I think you will struggle to get everything for the marriage visa done in 6 months. We considered this route and the processing times seemed like it would take over a year, but double check again and see what's best for you.

I've just got a bit of advice for you from what we've found out so far applying for K1 from here:

- Put your current address as here in Korea, but definitely put a mailing address in the US if you can. With our NOA1 they tried to send it here with a 39c stamp, so it was returned to the US and eventually sent to my finance's parents' house! This took weeks longer than it should have. We tried to call the USCIS like you, and have loads of difficulty with changing our address and haven't actually been able to. Our NOA2 is on the way, but again, it will likely take weeks to reach us, whereas his parents could just scan it to us if we'd have it sent there.

- According to the Seoul embassy info on this site, Yonsei Severance hospital in Seoul does medicals on Saturdays if you call to book. I'm not sure where you are in Korea, but all the hospitals for the medicals are in Seoul so that way you won't have to miss any work

- I'm not sure if it's the same for Australia, but I need a police check from NZ. I emailed to find out what type of check and they told me to apply directly through the embassy in Seoul. You can email support@ustraveldocs.com to find out. They were very helpful and quick to respond.

With regards to your other questions, with the G325a it's probably best to just put all your addresses down, as they'll likely question any gaps. With the I-134, you personally will have to put $0 as your income, as foreign income doesn't count. We're just going to attach a page explaining our situation. You'll need to get a cosponsor initially, even though they don't need to support you financially in reality. It's just a back-up to ensure you can be supported if need be.

I hope that's helpful I know it's hard applying from here.

Good luck, and let me know if I can help with anything else.

Bryony

[JFH 12,190]

I'll answer your CR-1 questions (and I actually think this would be the best route for your circumstances).

Since you are both residents in South Korea you can file via the DCF route directly through the embassy in South Korea and shave off a whole chunk of time in the process. I would take advantage of this. Seriously. There are thousands of us who would do anything to be able to make the processs go faster and you have the perfect opportunity right there in front of you.

No paperwork needed to be done when you enter the USA with this visa. If you have been married less than 2 years on the day you land, you will have to go through "removal of conditions" after 2 years of residency. But nothing needs to be done immediately upon arrival.

You can start work immediately with this visa. You will have to wait about 10 days for a SSN if you don't already have one but you are legally able to work from the minute the CBP officer stamps your passport and endorses your visa at the airport.

No AOS with this visa.

You will have the 2-year green card upon arrival unless you have been married 2 years or more on the day your plane lands. In that case, you will have the 10-year card.

SSN card should arrive automatically within about 10 days of your arrival if you request one on your DS-260 immigrant visa application form. Otherwise you will need to call into an SSA office and sort one out.

Yes, you can leave to go on honeymoon or any other trip. You can even leave on the very next plane out. No restrictions except that you must maintain residency. In other words, must be in the country more than out.

My only concern (minor) is your 5-month stay in 2015. Was this on a B2? If so, all good. If you were using the VWP you overstayed so be prepared for that throwing a spanner in the works.

Edited August 16, 2016 by JFH